Pola Pasvolsky Chair in Conservation Biology

Prof. Graeme Cumming BSc (Hons) Rhodes, DPhil (Oxon) Tel: +27 21 650 3439 Fax: +27 21 650 3295 John Day Building: 2.04.4 email: Graeme.Cumming -at- uct.ac.za

Activities and Research Interests

Landscape Ecology, Conservation Biology, Community Ecology, Resilience and Complex Systems Theory.

About me: I grew up (well, mostly) in Harare, Zimbabwe, where I went to Saint George’s College. I studied Zoology and Entomology to the honours level at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. I then moved to Oxford University, U.K., on a Rhodes Scholarship. While at New College, Oxford, I completed my doctorate on ‘The Evolutionary Ecology of African Ticks’ under the supervision of Drs. Sarah Randolph and David Rogers. From Oxford I moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, funded by a D. H. Smith Postdoctoral Fellowship from The Nature Conservancy (TNC). In Madison I worked with TNC and Professor Steve Carpenter at the Center for Limnology on applying species-based models to management and conservation-related problems in freshwater systems. After two years as a postdoc, I was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. I left UF at the end of 2005 and am currently Pola Pasvolsky Chair in Conservation Biology at the University of Cape Town.

I have a wide range of interests, centering around spatial aspects of ecology and in particular on how heterogeneity within biological systems translates across spatial and temporal scales. I am also interested in conservation and the sustainable management of natural resources. For example, the distributions of invertebrates are determined by a range of factors, from individual physiology through local patchiness in the environment to continent-wide climatic conditions. Understanding and predicting changes in species distributions requires an approach that crosses these different scales. Similarly, human-caused habitat fragmentation may have broader-scale ecological and evolutionary consequences that affect the long-term sustainability and resilience of animal and plant populations. Clarification of these cross-scale dynamics is essential if we are to maintain long-term ecosystem function.

Research Program

My main focus at present is on exploring the relationships between landscape heterogeneity, biodiversity, and ecosystem function in linked social-ecological systems. Under this broad theme I am currently focusing on two programs: (1) spatial parasitology and epidemiology; and (2) pattern-process linkages in landscape ecology.

Student Involvement

If you are a student looking for an advisor, please have a look at my notes for prospective students. Note also that although I am based at an Ornithology Institute, I do not expect all of the student projects that I advise on to deal with birds.

Students and postdocs that I am currently advising include:

• Dr. Xanic Rondon, Postdoc
• Dr Felix Nchu, Postdoc
• Michael Mills, PhD
• Sharon Okanga, PhD
• Dr Grant Joseph, PhD
• Mduduzi Ndlovu, PhD
• Gregory Mutumi, thesis MSc
• Ben Heermans, CB MSc
• Allison Skidmore, CB MSc
• Dominic Henry, Hons

Recent Publications (2009/in press)

• Cumming, G. S. (in press). Current Themes and Recent Advances in Modelling Species Occurrences. Faculty of 1000 Reports.
• Robertson, M. P., Cumming, G. S., and Erasmus, B. (in press). Getting the most out of Atlas data. Diversity and Distributions.
• Collier, J., and G. S. Cumming (in press). A Dynamical Approach to Ecosystem Identity. In: Brown, B., de Laplante, K., and Peacock, K. (eds). Philosophy of Ecology Handbook. Volume 11 in the Handbook of the Philosophy of Science. Elsevier.
• Peres-Neto, P., and G. S. Cumming (in press). Fish Ecology in the Age of Metacommunities: Approaches, Patterns and Challenges. In: Gido, K., and Jackson, D. Community Ecology of Stream Fishes: Concepts, Approaches, and Techniques. American Fisheries Society.
• Abolnik, C., G.H. Gerdes, M. Sinclair, B.W. Ganzevoort, J.P. Kitching, C.E. Burger, M. Romito, M. Dreyer, S. Swanepoel, G.S. Cumming, and A.J. Olivier. (in press). Phylogenetic analysis of influenza A viruses (H6N8, H1N8, H4N2, H9N2, H10N7) isolated from wild birds, ducks and ostriches in South Africa from 2007 to 2009. Avian Diseases.
• Cumming, G.S., and George, A. (2009). Historical influences dominate the composition of regenerating plant communities in abandoned citrus groves in north-central Florida. Landscape Ecology 24: 957-970.
• Child, M.F., Cumming, G.S., and Amano, T. (2009). Assessing the broad-scale impact of agriculturally transformed and protected area landscapes on avian taxonomic and functional richness. Biological Conservation (available via on line first).
• Cumming, G.S., and Child, M.F. (2009). Contrasting spatial patterns of taxonomic and functional richness offer insights into potential loss of ecosystem services. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364: 1683-1692.
• Geselbracht, L., Torres, R., Cumming, G.S., Dorfman, D., Beck, M., and Shaw, D. (2009). Identification of a spatially efficient portfolio of priority conservation sites in marine and estuarine areas of Florida. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 19: 408-420.

You can check out citation metrics for my ISI-listed journal articles here.

Recent Publications (2008)

• Norberg, J., and Cumming, G. S. (2008). Complexity theory for a sustainable future. Columbia Press, NY. 312pp.
• Houlahan, J.E., Cottenie, K., Cumming, G.S., Currie, D.J., Findlay, C.S., Gaedke, U., Legendre, P., Magnuson, J.J., McArdle, B.H., Stevens, R.D., Woiwod, I.P., & Wondzell, S.M. (2008). The utility of covariances: a response to Ranta et al. Oikos 117: 1912-1913.
• Cumming, G.S., Hockey, P.A.R., Bruinzeel, L.W., and Du Plessis, M.A. (2008). Wild bird movements and avian influenza risk mapping in southern Africa. Ecology and Society 13(2): 26. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art26/
• Cumming, G. S., and Havlicek, T. D. (2008). Discontinuity, multimodality and the evolution of pattern. In: Allen, C. R., and Holling, C. S. (editors). Discontinuities in ecosystems and other complex systems. Columbia Press, NY. 288pp.
• Richter, H.V. & Cumming, G.S. (2008). First application of satellite telemetry to track African straw-coloured fruit bat migration. Journal of Zoology 275:172-176.
• Spiesman, B.J. & Cumming, G.S. (2008). Communities in context: the influences of multiscale environmental variation on local ant community structure. Landscape Ecology 23:313-325.
• Okes, N.C., Hockey, P.A.R. & Cumming, G.S. (2008). Habitat use and life history as predictors of bird responses to habitat change. Conservation Biology 22:151-162.
• Daniels, A.E. & Cumming, G.S. (2008). conversion or conservation? Understanding wetland change in Northwest Costa Rica. Ecological Applications 18:49-63

Peer-reviewed Publications from Previous Years

• Cumming, G.S., and Barnes, G.D. (2007). Characterizing land tenure dynamics by comparing spatial and temporal variation at multiple scales. Landscape and Urban Planning 83: 219-227.
• Cumming, G.S. (2007). Global biodiversity scenarios and landscape ecology. Landscape Ecology 22: 671-685.
• Houlahan, J.E., Currie, D.J., Cottenie, K., Cumming, G.S., Ernest, S.K.M., Findlay, C.S., Fuhlendorf, S.D., Gaedke, U., Legendre, P., Magnuson, J.J., McArdle, B.H., Muldavin, E.H., Noble, D., Russell, R., Stevens, R.D., Willis, T.J., Woiwod, I.P., and Wondzell, S.M. (2007). Compensatory dynamics are rare in natural ecological communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 3273-3277.
• Cumming, G.S., and Spiesman, B. (2006). Regional problems need integrated solutions: pest management and conservation biology in agroecosystems. Biological Conservation 131: 533-543.
• Cumming, G.S., and Guegan, J-F. (2006). Food Webs and Disease: Is Pathogen Diversity Limited By Vector Diversity? EcoHealth 3: 163-170.
• Southworth, J., Cumming, G. S., Marsik, M., Binford, M. W. (2006). Linking spatial and temporal variation at multiple scales in a heterogeneous landscape. Professional Geographer 58: 406-420
• Dobson, A., Lodge, D., Alder, J., Cumming, G.S., Keymer, J., Mcglade, J., Mooney, H., Rusak, J.A., Sala, O., Wolters, V., Wall, D., Winfree, R., & Xenopoulos, M.A. (2006). Habitat loss, trophic collapse, and the decline of ecosystem services. Ecology 87(8):1915–1924.
• Cumming, G. S., and Van Vuuren, D. (2006). Will climate change affect ectoparasite species ranges? Global Ecology and Biogeography 15: 486-497.
• Rodriguez, J.P., Beard, T.D., Bennett, E., Cumming, G.S., Cork, S., Agard, J., Dobson, A., and Peterson, G. (2006). Trade-offs across space, time, and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society 11(1): 28. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art28/
• Cumming, G. S., D. H. M. Cumming, and C. L. Redman. 2006. Scale mismatches in social-ecological systems: causes, consequences, and solutions. Ecology and Society 11(1): 14. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vo11/iss1/art14/.
• Richter, H. V., and Cumming, G. S. (2006). Food availability and the annual migration of the straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) at Kasanka National Park, Zambia. Journal of Zoology, London 268: 35-44.
• Bennett, E. M., Cumming, G.S. and Peterson, G. D. (2005). A systems models approach to determining resilience surrogates for case studies. Ecosystems 8: 945-947
• Cumming, G. S. and Collier, J. (2005). Change and identity in complex systems. Ecology and Society 10:29
• Cumming, G. S., Barnes, G., Perz, S., Schmink, M., Sieving, K., Southworth, J., Binford, M., Holt, R. D., Stickler, C., and Van Holt, T. (2005). An exploratory framework for the empirical measurement of resilience. Ecosystems 8: 975-987.
• Cumming, G. S., Alcamo, J., Sala, O., Swart, R., Bennett, E. M, & Zurek, M. (2005). Are existing global scenarios consistent with ecological feedbacks? Ecosystems 8: 143-152.
• Cumming, G. S., and Peterson, G. D. (2005). Ecology in global scenarios. Chapter 3 in: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Volume 2: Scenarios Assessment. Island Press, NY.
• Sala, O. E., D. van Vuuren, H. Pereira, D. Lodge, J. Alder, G. S. Cumming, A. Dobson, V. Wolters, and M. A. Xenopoulos. (2005). Biodiversity across scenarios. Chapter 10 in: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Volume 2: Scenarios Assessment. Island Press, NY.
• Rodriguez, J. P., John Agard, T. Douglas Beard, Jr., E. Bennett, S. Cork, G. S. Cumming, D. Deane, A. P. Dobson, D. M. Lodge, M. Mutale, G. Nelson, G. D. Peterson, and T. Ribeiro. (2005). Tradeoffs among ecosystem services. Chapter 11 in: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Volume 2: Scenarios Assessment. Island Press, NY.
• Kareiva, P., M. Manson, J. Geoghegan, B. L. Turner II, R. Dickinson, P. Kabat, J. Foley, R. Defries, M. Rosegrant, C. Ringler, V. Wolters, H. Pereira, O. Sala, D. Lodge, G. S. Cumming, A. Dobson, J. Alder, M. Xenopoulos, and D. Van Vuuren, S. Carpenter, E. Bennett, A. M. Parma, M. A. Pascual, J. Agard, C. Butler, P. Wilkinson. (2005). State of the art in describing future changes in ecosystem services. Chapter 4 in: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Volume 2: Scenarios Assessment. Island Press, NY.
• Cumming, G. S. (2004). The impacts of low-head dams on fish species richness in Wisconsin, USA. Ecological Applications 14: 1495-1506.
• Cumming, G. S. (2004). On the relevance of abundance and spatial pattern for interpretations of host-parasite association data. Bulletin of Entomological Research 94: 401-409.
• Bennett, E. M., Carpenter, S. R., Peterson, G. D., Cumming, G. S., Zurek, M., and Pingali, P. (2003). Why global scenarios need ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1: 322-329.
• Cumming, D. H. M. & Cumming, G. S. (2003). Ungulate community structure and ecological processes: body size, hoof area and trampling in African savannas. Oecologia 134: 560-568.
• Peterson, G. D., Cumming, G. S. & Carpenter, S. R. (2003). Scenario planning: a tool for conservation in an uncertain future. Conservation Biology 17: 358-366.
• Peterson, G. D., Beard, T. D. Jr., Beisner, B. E., Bennett, E. M., Carpenter, S. R., Cumming, G. S., Dent, C. L., and Havlicek, T. D. (2003). Assessing future ecosystem services: a case study of the Northern Highlands Lake District, Wisconsin. Conservation Ecology 7(3):1.
• Cumming, G. S. & Havlicek, T. D. (2002). Evolution, ecology and multimodal distributions of body size. Ecosystems 5: 705-711.
• Walker, B., Carpenter, S., Anderies, J., Abel, N., Cumming, G., Janssen, M., Lebel, L., Norberg, J., Peterson, G. D., & Pritchard, R. (2002). Resilience management in social-ecological systems: a working hypothesis for a participatory approach. Conservation Ecology 6(1): 14
• Dent, C. L., Cumming, G. S., & Carpenter, S. R. (2002). Non-linearities in lake and stream ecosystems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 357: 635-645.
• Cumming, G. S. (2002). Habitat shape, species invasions, and reserve design: insights from simple models. Conservation Ecology 6(1): 3.[Online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol6/iss1/art3/
• Cumming, G. S. (2002). Comparing climate and vegetation as limiting factors for species ranges of African ticks. Ecology 83: 255-268.
• Cumming, G. S. (2000). Using between-model comparisons to fine-tune linear models of species ranges. Journal of Biogeography 27: 441-455.
• Cumming, G. S. (2000). Using habitat models to map diversity: pan-African species richness of ticks (Acari: Ixodida). Journal of Biogeography 27: 425-440.
• Cumming, G. S. (2000). Host use does not clarify the evolutionary history of African ticks (Acari: Ixodoidea). African Zoology 35: 43-50.
• Cumming, G. S. (1999). Host distributions do not limit the species ranges of most African ticks (Acari: Ixodida). Bulletin of Entomological Research 89: 303-327.
• Cumming, G. S. (1999). The Evolutionary Ecology of African ticks. D. Phil. Thesis, University of Oxford.
• Cumming, G. S. (1998). Host preference in African ticks: a quantitative data set. Bulletin of Entomological Research 88: 379-406.
• Fenton, M. B., Cumming, D. H. M., Rautenbach, I. L., Cumming, G. S., Cumming, M. S., Ford, A. G., Taylor, R. D., Dunlop, J. M., Hovorka, M. D., Johnston, D. S., Portfors, C. V. R., Kalcounis, M., & Mahlanga, Z. (1998). Bats and loss of tree canopy in African woodlands. Conservation Biology 12(2):399-407.
• Cumming, D. H. M., Fenton, M. B., Rautenbach, I. L., Taylor, R. D., Cumming, G. S., Cumming, M. S., Dunlop, J. M., Ford, A. G., Hovorka, M. D., Johnston, D. S., Kalcounis, M., Mahlanga, Z., & Portfors, C. V. R. (1997). Elephants, woodlands and biodiversity in southern Africa. South African Journal of Science 93: 231-236.
• Bernard, R. T. F. & Cumming, G. S. (1997). African bats: evolution of reproductive patterns and delays. Quarterly Review of Biology 72(3): 253-274.
• Cumming, G. S. & Bernard, R. T. F. (1997). Rainfall, food abundance and timing of parturition in African bats. Oecologia 111: 309-317.
• Cumming, G. S. (1996). Mantis movements by night and the interactions of sympatric bats and mantises. Canadian Journal Of Zoology 74: 1771-1774.

This list includes only recent peer-reviewed publications. For a more comprehensive list go to Fitz Publications. Reprints can be obtained from the librarian.